Red Drum
Corvineta ocelada · also Corvina roja
Sciaenops ocellatus · Sciaenidae
- Category
- Corvina & Croaker
- Found in
- Gulf of Mexico
- IUCN status
- Least Concern
About Red Drum in Mexico
How to recognize it
Red drum are copper to bronze along the back and sides, fading to white underneath, with one or more black spots near the base of the tail. Some fish carry a single spot, others a row of them. The snout is rounded, the mouth sits low for rooting along the bottom, and there are no barbels on the chin, which separates it from the related black drum.
Where and when in Mexico
In Mexico it is officially corvineta ocelada, though anglers more often call it corvina roja. It is a Gulf of Mexico species, and in Mexican waters it is most associated with the northern coast of Tamaulipas, including the Laguna Madre, the barrier beaches and passes near Matamoros, and the coast around Tampico. Numbers thin out farther south along Veracruz. Fall typically brings the best action, when big spawning fish gather in the passes and surf, but smaller fish can be caught in the lagoons year-round.
How it's fished
In shallow lagoons, anglers sight-cast to tailing fish with gold spoons, soft plastics and topwater plugs, or fish shrimp under a popping cork. On the beaches and passes, surf casting with cut mullet or crab on a fish-finder rig is the standard approach for larger bull reds. Fly fishing for reds on the flats is possible but much less developed in Mexico than in Texas or Louisiana.
Good to know
Smaller fish are excellent eating. Large breeders are tough and rank-tasting by comparison, so most anglers release them to protect the spawning stock.
Fishing rules in Mexico
- General limit: 10 fish per angler per day, max 5 of one species
Source: NOM-017-PESC-1994 §4.9.1 (2013 mod.). Rules change; confirm current limits, seasons and permits with CONAPESCA before you fish.
